odiousgambit's Blog
Aug 31, 2010
Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science
Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science by Jeff MeldrumI decided to make this a blog post. I should probably explain that there have been a couple of threads that dipped a bit into Bigfoot, and that there was this book by Jeffrey Meldrum out there. I did read this book and thought I would not so much review it as just give you my thoughts.
I was expecting this, and found it again to be the case: when you read a book taking a controversial position on something, you tend to forget the author has placed himself in the position of advocacy without counter-argument. You have signed on to allowing this to happen by reading the book, yet it is easy to forget you sort have set yourself up this way. Unless the book is really bad, the next thing you know, you start to wonder if some of the claims don't have something to them. One needs to be on guard against becoming a convert, forgetting you have only heard one side of the argument. I've seen a similar phenomenon with UFO folks... "believers" they call themselves usually. And actually there is a competent physicist on their side these days, and an astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, that can get to you. But I digress.
It may seem unlikely, but Meldrum IMO is capable of swaying skeptics, at least to the point of acknowledging some aspects of the evidence can't be so easily dismissed as thought. Anyone with an open mind, that is, which is what he says he has, is all. There were indeed moments reading his book where his evident sincerity, if nothing else, made you want to acknowledge there must be something to it all. Clearly the guy is reasonably competent; he makes the case that you have to take certain evidence seriously, particularly the footprints in many cases. Ironically, the footprint evidence for me has always been almost unbearably ridiculous looking. Yet it is amongst his specialties to examine such evidence, so who am I to say that it is not worthy? He is quite good at relating how hard it would be to fake the better evidence. I can no longer assume, as I did before, that it is just a matter of putting on fake feet and walking around. He is quite experienced
with debunking such clumsy attempts, and relates those times he directly investigated fresh evidence, and how hard it would be to fake it at all, much less fool someone like himself.
Unfortunately, he was unable to get me to think of the famous film footage [the Patterson-Gimlin film] as possibly worthy evidence. In this matter, and in showing some other rare photos, he tends to cite other investigators rather than give his own conclusions, but he lets it be known he considers this evidence to likely be "for real" as we might put it. Other evidence investigated by others is also considered in the book. And it should be said he acknowledges quite a bit of the evidence put out there is hoaxed in some cases, or may be explainable as mis-identification in others.
Am I now a Bigfoot believer, or at least someone swayed into accepting that some of the evidence for such a creature is worthy? No, not on reflection. The best I can say is I wouldn't be able to explain how the evidence was faked or otherwise explained away in some cases. I still put the chance that it was left by an unknown creature as an extremely remote possibility. But I will also admit I found the book hard to put down.
Attach "in my humble opinion" to all the below.
I think what we have here could be called "Piltdown Syndrome" in part. That hoax, a human-like skull with ape-like jawbone, stood for 40 years amongst scientists till finally, seemingly now obviously, the artifacts were shown to be faked composition, actually human combined with orangutan. There just seems to be a certain gullibility amongst various scientists that is really pretty amazing.
In part the problem is also the well-known problem of what could be called the "Credible Witness/Deplorable Claim Syndrome". Some people just relish the attention, such as can be found in the old footage of the 1950's UFO craze where some try to get away with claiming they had been taken to other planets, coming up with wild names for them, etc. [I was unable to find any of this but I'm sure you've seen it] But in some cases, I feel this does not explain it. In the book we have a couple of instances where a credible person relates something along with a detail that really makes you wonder. Usually such a person claims to have been a skeptic, and often is presented as a person of character that does not fit with being a hoaxer. This has never been fully explainable, a phenomenon that also plagues Court systems the world over. Possibly witnesses themselves were hoaxed and didn't know it, and even are unaware of how retelling and retelling starts to alter their own versions. It has been proven that after a period of time a person can no longer correctly remember details of an event and starts to rely on what he has said before, losing track of alterations. Scientists should be more aware of this.
In part the problem is just that the scientists just do not realize they need to call in people who are more expert in debunking; often times the person to successfully do this is a magician.
I guess those of us who remain skeptics just will have to eat crow if any of the creatures are ever found. You can skip buying this book, unless you want to experience the advocacy. I admit I have a certain curiosity about such things, and such a book can really involve me. I seem to wind up enjoying this later reflection that wards off the wrong conclusions.
And, ha! My wife never caught me reading that book [in case you remember me mentioning that].
Aug 09, 2010
Fear and Loathing in Northern Virginia
I have some time off this week, and certainly had been thinking the thing to do was hit some of the more local new gambling opportunities for our area. My wife even suggested such a solo trip for me, not having time off herself. With that stamp of approval in my back pocket, I was practically out the door already. But then I started thinking about it. I'm not going to be able to go as far as Atlantic City or Philadelphia without doing an overnight, and I don't want to do that without planning the trip with her or someone, and there are no takers at the moment. I rethought Harrington Delaware, and convinced myself we are talking 2.5 hours to go the way I would like... it's just too far to suit me, and it wasn't *that* great the last time I went. Maybe if the buffet was better, you know?Charles Town WV is a reasonable hour and a half for me, but from what I can determine, all I could expect there is overcrowded high minimum tables with possibly no Craps dealers in the morning. I have no interest in the slots, and as far as I can tell, there isnt even videopoker at all, even any with lousy paytables. The casino poker scene hasn't tempted me yet either. We'll call this the "Fear" part.
What can I say? Looks like any gambling in the near future will entail a trip with someone to Mohegan Sun or Atlantic City when that can be arranged; maybe not even this year!
And I was going to try Blackjack for the first time, too, damn it. My bankroll is gathering moths. I can't decide if I should be patting myself on the back for my restraint, kicking myself for not going anyway for an Escape I could sure as hell use, or what. One thing is for sure, the New Deal I thought we might be getting in our local area this summer hasn't panned out for me. We'll call the WV scene, and the distance to Harrington, the "Loathing", but it's the jackasses that have done what they've done in WV that are the focus of this contempt. I wonder how much company I have in that regard?
up or down longterm remains "down $1003"
below budget, $497 balance
Comments
Pat yourself on the back for your restraint. There just aren't enough good opportunities in your area. Save it for a trip to AC or LV where there's better stuff.
Personally, every one in a while, I like to make a trip, by myself, usually for a weekend, to Las Vegas or Laughlin. While it may seem weird to "get away" without the significant other, sometimes that's exactly what you need. While we may love dearly our s/o's, that doesn't mean that we can't use some time away. And by away, I mean away from work, away from home, away from life, away from the s/o, away from EVERYTHING. A solo trip definitely isn't for everybody, and I couldn't do it all the time, but sometimes, it's just what the psyche ordered.
"sometimes, it's just what the psyche ordered."
I certainly agree. But I do my outdoor recreation, hunting and fishing, without her per her request, she is quite super about it. However, this seems to use up my quota of "without her" activity. Adding gambling trips with overnight stay seems to be more than I should try to get away with.
FYI...last time I was at CTown, they did have VPoker...it was upstairs in its own section, and they were very odd, old style graphics. Not traditional machines. First I thought they could be like pull-tabs, but I don't think they were, because they offered a double up opportunities.
Jul 23, 2010
I'm On The Record
On the record on this one:Rams Running Back Steven Jackson will get in trouble with his gambling at some point in his career. Bad trouble.
Yesterday he had an interview on TV with the "welcome to vegas" sign as a backdrop [surely at his request] and you could see that one of his tattoos was also an image of that sign. Now I'm pretty sure the NFL tells these guys that if they want to gamble in the off season, they can't stop them, but that they have to keep it low key.
I'll keep this short: a little voice told me he already has caught the attention of the wrong people, and they will get to him. Whether or not this will be another Art Schlichter story I couldn't say, but I want to be on the record on this one, and I figured a blog post is a good way to do it.
Comments
Allen Iverson has a notrious gambling problem. He went to Atlantic City a lot while he was in Philly, and he was thrown out of the Detroit casinos at least once while playing for the Pistons. I'm not sure how he's doing in Denver (Blackhawk?) A lot of athletes have had gambling problems (Barkley, A. Walker) but usually it's after their playing careers are over. If I were him I would self-exclude myself from the Missouri/Illinois casinos before the season started.
I'm sure you know this already, but SJ is from Vegas.....
I live in St. Louis, and haven't heard a peep of him hanging out in the casinos around here.
You may be right, but I wouldn't judge him just because he's from Vegas.
Jun 28, 2010
Gai Pow Kapow!
The Seminole Casino in Tampa has no dice games, so it gave me an opportunity to try my hand at Gai Pow Poker. I had some reservations about it, as I suspected strongly from the WoO's free online game that typically you just lose money playing the straight game in a pattern I've called the Wobbly Downward Spiral. Yet some things held promise, particularly that it seemed I was going to be able to play it well. This as opposed to what practice revealed at video poker, in which errors abound for me.Certainly I wanted to play something in addition to just checking out what was going on at this Casino from general interest. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found a $10 table, but I did, and an empty one too as I'd hoped, so it was on. I immediately told the dealer I had played only online and that it was going to be obvious. This honesty didn't seem to get me anywhere, but the guy's English was not that good, so I'm not sure if he understood me fully. But he was helpful enough when I needed it, and starting off my luck was pretty good. At about the time I realized I had completely forgotten to ask to bank as much as possible, someone else sat down, and more sat down, and I took the advice offered here not to bank with other people at the table. This meant I was going to suffer the full 2.66% HE the entire time.
As a few of you assured me, though, I enjoyed playing anyway. It was interesting that I seemed to get no "bad beats" like the WoO's game likes to dish out on me, coming up with straights when I am dealt the full house that gets split into the 3 of a kind / pair, etc. On the other hand, I had practiced pretty hard to get the right play on being dealt 2 pair, yet I got dealt very few of these compared to the online game it seemed. It was no sweat asking the house way, or just other players who knew their stuff, if I had a hand I wasn't sure what was best with.
I was also interested to see that the other players never failed to make the Fortune side bet. Of course this gave them some hope for variance at the expense of losing their money faster if luck failed them, and sure enough, even though most bet the minimum $2 for side bets, this was seemingly enough to drain the bankroll, whereas my $200 was going to last I don't know how long before bust. Two guys were definitely betting more on this side bet, one was blown out quickly and the other hit something that paid $450 [I forget what he bet but it was always around $10]. He eventually left the table with that exact amount, and I remember he paid in with plenty, I would think just under that.
I didn't have any trouble blowing off suggestions I should be playing the side bet, even though the other players seemed to consider it unendurable to think they would have hit a good hand and not made the side bet. If it was pointed out to me my hand would have paid nicely on the Fortune bet, I would just say "and I was going to bet that too!" and left them to wonder why I didn't.
I played for 3 hours, pushing plenty during the middle time, and seeing the downward spiral kick in hard towards the end. Time to cash out while you get the satisfaction of coloring up. It was one of those times you say you broke about even, although I left a $25 tip to make up for the failure to tip last time out in Delaware. Did I never play the Fortune side bet? OK, I admit I blew $6 on that just for grins. Would I play this game again? Yes, I think I would, especially as a break from Craps.
longterm now "down $1003"
below budget, $497 balance
Comments
I'm glad you liked the game. It's a nice way to unwind without sitting at a slot machine. I'm never sure what to think about the bonus bet. It seems like there's a very strong negative correlation between when I play the bet and when I get a bonus hand.
Also wanted to comment on banking. It's true that some other players will react negatively if you want to bank their play. That said, your edge is better the more players' hands you bank. If you have thick enough skin to play the DP in craps, you would probably be able to shrug off the reaction to you banking here.
edited my long term condition, it was bugging me to make it look so "loser" when actually I'm doing good long term.
regarding grief about banking and about playing the DC, I'm fairly determined to learn how to do these things and just manage the problem, especially since I think I will go darkside when shooting Craps next time around. For Gai Pow Poker, I'm going to try starting the table me and dealer only, then when someone sits down tell them I'm banking and act like that courtesy should be enough and go on. If an a-hole makes a huge bet I'll just wait him out or watch in awe if he can keep it up.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Did you mean Pai Gow? It is a nice, slow game. Also Pai Gow Tiles is a good game and even slower than poker. Where I play if you bank, the other players will sit out the hand.
"Did you mean Pai Gow?"
What a hilarious mistake! Didnt realize I was doing that till you pointed it out!
That's funny.
I thought "Gai Pow Kapow!" was an intentional play on words, reflecting how the session went.
Jun 25, 2010
Seminole Gambling
I did hit the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino / Tampa this week while in Florida. Mysteriously, as far as I could determine, this is the only place amongst many so called casinos in Florida where any real semblance of what I would consider Casino Table games has been allowed. For example, the Miccosukee operation near Miami has only bingo, pull tabs, and poker it seems. How the Seminoles got their deal I don't know, but for table games they have Blackjack, Baccarat, Mini Baccarat, Pai Gow Poker, Let It Ride & Three Card Poker... but not certain other games, notably Craps! Now rolling the bones is about all I have indulged in when it comes to gambling in recent times, so it was time to learn a new game if I was going to check the place out.With help from all of you at this website, I settled in on Pai Gow Poker as the game I should really try as somethig new, with mini-baccarat as a second possibility. Contacting them ahead of time, I got these details by email:
Pai Gow Poker
Minimums start at $10
Player banking is allowed, rotation
5% on wins, commission.
>>>
Limits on Baccarat are $25 - $5,000
ties pay 8 to 1
5% commission on Bank wins.
The minimum pretty much ruled out the mini-baccarat unless somehow the limits would be lowered in a slow period. I was really hoping to take a dip in that game as well. But when I arrived on a Tuesday afternoon about 2 PM, the place was pretty darn busy. I asked someone about that, and they said there was big prize drawing on Tuesdays that brings people in, but he also said that the place really brings them in at all times anyway. I toured around and thankfully asked where the cafe was, as where I had walked in was the smaller casino area whereas a larger area existed on the other side of the Hotel. You were just supposed to know this. In this larger area, they had the poker tables and, for the most part, higher table limits on the table games; mini-baccarat was there and sure enough it was $25 minimum. Fortunately, I did find a few $10 Gai Pow Poker tables by going back to the smaller casino area.
Seems like the Seminoles are coining money with this place. Evidence is they are packing them in for sure; the only complimentary drinks are soft drinks and coffee, except in the High Limit gaming area. Some of the poker games had a waiting list. To go on a weekend must really be something.
My experience with Gai Pow Poker in the next blog post when I get to that.
Comments
Recently a Baccarat dealer at Tampa pushed 1200 dollars out to a player and, not getting a tip he felt moved to refer to the player in a manner that I shall type as Cork Sucker. The Floorman who had just recently moved up from Baccarat Dealer very loudly asked the Dealer "Which Cork Sucker?". This seems to have prompted all the players at the table to color up and leave. Now you can have whatever views you choose to have on the propriety of the employee's behaviors, but you surely know that its the Seminoles, not the employees, who are making the money at those casinos!! They are terribly run and still they are profitable beyond belief. Craps? Don't worry: Six will get you five that its craps within a year!
I'm told that players can engage in just about any behavior they wish to and will not be at risk of casino intervention unless the dealer lies and tells a manager that the player made a derogatory comment about Indians.
So its definitely generating a great deal of money for the tribe.
If you take a look at the Seminole's bus program you will see that Florida gamblers are willing to trek great distances and get almost zilch in the way of comps. Drinks? The Seminoles have ONE liquor license. High Rollers get comps. Thats about it. (by the way, the HOT chocolate is. Very hot!).
The Seminoles have been hiring "blackjack" dealers that fit into certain sized uniforms and certain sized fish-net stockings, but have not yet installed any poles anywhere. So maybe those Seminoles are learning how to run a casino?
I played for about 30 min @ Seminole Hard Rock--Fort Lauderdale on Sunday 6-20-10. We were headed to the airport for our return to Houston from a trip to the Keys and I thought my wife would enjoy some slot action.
The major change to the casino from our last visit a couple of years ago was the addition of table card games (no dice games) instead of just poker. It looks like they have tables in each direction off of the main bar. It is a decent layout.
I played mini-bac ($25 minimum) and 3 card poker during the short visit. I broke even on mini-bac and lost about $40 on 3 card. My wife lost $8 on slots...
I was offered drinks three or four times in that short period of time. That is very good cocktail service, but it was a Sunday morning and the slots were empty. 2 of 4 mini-bac tables were full. There were a good number of blackjack players and also several tables full of 3 card players. The tables were fare from full; it just seemed everyone was playing at the same tables as opposed to spreading out more.
We'll visit again next year...
"I was offered drinks three or four times in that short period of time."
so was I, but there was some sort of charge i didn't investigate. Did you in fact get free drinks? If so, it indicates they are hungrier for business there.
Tampa hard rock is the only casino ive been to in my life- and I enjoy it.. shows how much im missing out on in vegas hu? lol
I have no problems getting a comped meal about every other visit- they will give me a comp of 25 to 36 bucks. I dont drink alcohol so the drinks are free for me... the dealers Ive come across are friendly and talkitive- then again I know who im looking for to get that- I got a few favorites- and others that are real downers. Some of the bit guys are selfish on comps and others will really try for you.
No dice and no roulette cause the current state legislation only agrees to card games- and does not allow for dice, ect. it was a huge step forward though- and id expect less limiting establishments in 6 or so years.
Lots and lots of slots- and i enjoy them some too. When in the tampa one try out the green room. The nacho dish is awseom and huge- and I really enjoyed the battered fish.
the hotel stay is a bit pricy- usually $120 to $210 a night.
Typical table minimums are $15. Almost any time you can find $15. the $10 tables they keep for blackjack, but they get lines on the busy times. $20 pai gow is very very typical but you can find it for $10 when you look at the right times. On the busy nights you may see alot of BJ tables at $25 and bac at $50. The pai gow and asia poker tables can soar to up as mcuh as $100 min. out on the floor- much less the high limit room. But its rare for me ot see it that bad.
My typical every trip experiance is BJ at $15, Pai Gow at $20, Bac at $50, and most everything else staying at $15. They do not have $5 never have and never will. $10 min on the slow days.
BJ uses 8 decks- and if your willing ot do $25 or more per bet you can get a shoe instead of the auto-shuffle.- if you look in the right places.
Security is pretty high there too- they keep all the more stringent security standards (own PD, no resale of used cards, dealers cant mention they work there when not working, even some proceedural errors if you keep doing them will get you backed off at the least; people on voluntary removal they have no problem arresting you for tresspass after warning (mind you this is volunteery removal on your own will) whereas others will mostl likely ask you to leave and not cash you out and bar you from tables, ect. they use the full tresspass after warning bit.
Oh and I forgot to mention- dont even think you can get your room comped- not going to happen.
thier points seem to be based on a point per $2 on slots- or something to that effect- with per bet and buy in tracking at the table games. The points are kept for a HORRIBLE 3 month day to day rollover (not use to use even.. much less the typical 6 month to a year most places have)... at $2 being 1 point- their highest of three card levels reqires 100,000 or more points in a 3 month period (I thin its 100,000+ .. could be more)... so the card points back SUCKS BIG TIME IMO.
I can't tell you whether or not there was a charge for drinks @ Ft Lauderdale Hard Rock...they were offered often but no one was drinking.
I also don't know how their crowds are--it was very sparse on Sunday morning, but I would think that was pretty normal. Minimums did seem high, on average, for the crowd on hand and the time of day.
Comments
The film is indeed great evidence. Particularly when the blown-up frame of the back reveals a metal buckle. Of course the true believers merely counter this with some mumbo jumbo about evolution selecting for metal buckle traits or some such nonsense.
Those who want to believe will believe. Let them be. Its like that tee shirt about never trying to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and it annoys the pig.